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Sunday, October 23, 2011

Derek Dooley and Paul Johnson Have Two Different Philosophies On Redshirting Players

Tennessee Head Coach Derek Dooley burned the redshirt on QB Justin Worley in the 4th quarter trailing 37-6 at Alabama on Saturday.

The Volunteers are without their normal starter Tyler Bray so Worley had moved up to the #2 on the depth chart behind Matt Simms.

“I’ve never worried about redshirts,” Dooley said. “I don’t care. These guys don’t worry about staying for four years anymore, so why should we worry about redshirts?”

On the other side of the coin we have Paul Johnson at Georgia Tech who would like to only use his freshman QB Vad Lee in an emergency.

With two straight losses where the offense mustered 21 points total in the two games, calls are being made to take the redshirt off Lee and prepare him for next season. Adding to the possibility of this is backup Synjyn Days, who replaced struggling starter Tevin Washington in the 4th quarter, was injured and did not return.

But Johnson was steadfast early on in the season about redshirting the freshman from Durham, NC.

Additionally, he said he has told Lee he’d like to see him compete to be the starting quarterback for four years. “He’ll be much better as a fifth-year senior than as a true freshman"

When asked after the Miami loss if playing Lee was a possibility, Johnson said "probably not"

If Days cannot play that would automatically move Lee up to number #2. However, I still think Lee only plays if Washington and Days both get hurt.

Decisions like Dooley and Johnson have made with their talented true freshman is how they earn their paychecks. We won't know if they were the right ones until three or four years down the road.